This is the third time I’ve done #100happy days. Somewhat ironically in the past I’ve waited until I was happier before starting. This time I was thoroughly grumpy and in the grip of seasonal negativity when I took the plunge – well that does actually seem to be the point of the exercise.

Starting miserable has made it a much more interesting process so far. I’m on day 22 and I can actually see things changing for me. Of course this is not just because I’m posting photos on the internet. It’s really because the days are getting longer and the sun is peaking out occasionally which in turn means I’m actually going out a bit and seeing things with a slightly rosier outlook.

You can see change from the photos. In the first 14 days there was a distinct theme of rest, TV, cake, books, tea with an occasional bit of colour, and stuff that just happened to be going on, thrown in. Like this photo for example:

On several occasions I got to the part of the day when I collapsed and then realised I hadn’t taken a photo. Hence the photos of the TV and the fire, my book and the wine.

The trend however is upward one. Babies are helping me along (there is nothing destined to improve mood more than a smiley or tiny newborn baby I can tell you.)

When I look at the album I can see now that I’m starting to get out more and see my friends. The last three days I actually had a choice of several things that made me happy.

On Saturday I chose a picture of a ticket which represented a good night out but I could also have chosen a photo from an exhibition or a picture of my long suffering husband. On Monday I chose a beautiful baby but I could just as easily picked a photo of my daughter trying to seeing her eyebrows, another of the children spoon balancing at tea time or a picture of my friends at dinner. The fact that I can see I have lots of things that make me happy, well it makes me happy. A win.

100 days is quite a long time and I do tend to get a bit bored by day 80, but i would recommend it. Not only is it a great memory aid, but it is a fun way to journal what makes you happy and what you are grateful for, which is long recommended to help improve mental health. You might want to give it a go yourself.

Whether you do or don’t here is a picture I didn’t use to make you laugh.